


The Fist of Mont'ka

by Cambian



Series: Commonwealth [1]
Category: Warhammer 40.000, Warhammer 40k (Novels) - Various Authors
Genre: Fanfiction, Space Marines, The greater good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:27:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29059770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cambian/pseuds/Cambian
Summary: A Tau tank formation prepares for the incoming Imperial assault.
Series: Commonwealth [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2131995
Comments: 3
Kudos: 1





	The Fist of Mont'ka

**D** ao'an. A border world. The Water Caste had named it something different at the dawn of the colonial efforts to quickly annex this region of space. Perhaps it had been beautiful name, so much of what the Water Caste did was beautiful. Looking out on this world of great plains and sweeping steppes and topaz oceans, it must have surely a beautiful name.

No more.

The Fire Caste, protectors and warriors of the Commonwealth of T'au, had renamed it as the planet itself was reshaped in the fires of war against the Imperium of Mankind. No longer would it be a tributary world of some shining new Sept* and there would be no colonists to call it home. That was why it was now called Dao'an; _Acceptance._ Acceptance of their fate, acceptance that many of them would never return home to the First and Second Spheres. That regardless of outcome, they had failed their culture with the premature ending of the Third Sphere of Expansion less than a decade since its declaration.

They were stranded. Lost, with only one thing left to do; resist.

* * *

**J** 'nunco shouldered his pulse carbine and pulled his cloak tighter around him. Against the high winds of this world, his helmet and carapace armor did a good job of regulating his core temperature but it did nothing for his arms and legs. He was Dal'ythi and had trained in the higher elevations of the Prime planet since the very start of his life as a warrior. He knew cold, but Dao'an's constant shifting winds seemed to cut into ones core, making it hard to warm even when back at the run'al*.

"Shas'La, take a look at this." His teamleader, Shas'La Ib'rik, called over to him from a bluff. J'nunco had trained with Ib'rik since they were crechlings, climbing mountains together and training in the battledomes. Ib'rik had always been better, stronger, faster. That was why they had made her teamleader but J'nunco thought she had become overeager in her newfound duties this past cycle. She was always first to volunteer their team on long range reconnaissance, endlessly patrolling a planet that, besides the strange gas bag creatures that floated on the wind, was bereft of life let alone threats.

He joined her. She was in a crouched position, magnoculars over her eyes and her helmet clamped to her belt. The single lock of black blue hair whipping behind her. "You're not cold?" He said with a shudder.

"What? Of course not." Ib'rika said reproachfully, passing the magnoculars. "Check quadrant Oh-vee-one-four-three, looks like something different." 

"Different?" After a moment his helmet's visor synced with the magnocular interface. His regular vision was reduced to a hexagonal window in his upper vision as his heads-up-display filled with a zoomed in view several kilometers away. Sure enough, he saw a smoking crater in the side of a ridge. The yellowed grass that covered the plains had caught fire and turned black around the impact sight.

"Is it a meteorite?" J'nunco said, fine tuning the controls of the magnoculars, shifting between thermal, then ultraviolet settings. The colors bloomed in multihued light, almost pulsing in the was of grays of the surrounding plains. "The temperature is consistent with an impact, whatever it is. What is it?"

"Not sure, I am signaling command." Ib'rika said, unbuckling the cover of her built in flex-screen on her forearm's vambrace.

"Hold on, Ib'rika." He said with a hiss of exasperation, the sound coming out of his helmet's amplifier like a burst of static. Ib'rika stopped what she was doing, then made the gesture of ' _authority earned_ ' and stamped a hoof in reproach.

"I am teamleader, Shas'La."

"Yes, Shas'tor'la*-"

"We are no longer crechlings-"

"Of course, I meant no disrespect-"

She stamped her hoof again and he stopped talking. There was an awkward pause.

"I apologize, J'nunco." She then said, placing her helmet back on. "I hope to perform above expectations."

J'nunco smiled then realized she couldn't see his face so he indicated a smile over his faceplate by pointing his index and thumb in opposing directions, "Do not worry so, _senshi*,_ you and I are out here, alone, we can be informal beyond the gaze of the Shas'Ui." He patted her on the shoulder, "I merely do not want to have to include such a random occurrence into my daily report. Why not take the TX-2 and investigate it ourselves. If it proves a danger we may offer a proper response and give fair warning." He wrapped his breastplate with his knuckles over the symbol of the _Stonedance Coalition_. If it is merely a stone the sky has flung to earth, then we can finish the circuit as scheduled."

Ib'rika nodded, then slapped J'nunco playfully. "What will the Shas'Ui do with you, Shas'La, you'll be doomed to a stealth cadre if you continue to think outside of protocol."

"With any luck." He chuckled, a _kek-kek-kek_ sound through his teeth.

They made their way quickly down the hill and into the waiting TX-2 light skimmer. It was a "T" shaped craft, its chassis more enclosed than the heavier TX-4 series the line warriors used with a markerlight pod fixed to the roof. J'nunco got into the forward seat and powered up the controls while Ib'rika stepped into the command seat behind him and strapped in.

They accelerated quickly, passing over the grass making less noise than the wind on an invisible cushion of gravitic thrust. Soon, J'nunco could see the impact sight with his own eyes through the forward visual screens and powered up the twin pulse guns nestled just below his hooves. Just in case. He had been in several engagements before; everyone in the Stonedance Coalition had by this point. The greenskin infestation in this system had taken almost a season to finally be driven from the world while pirates and marauders had harried the colonial fleet until they could reach the Kau'va Nebula. And of course, there were always the humans..

_Gue'la_ , the word for that benighted race brought bitterness to his tongue. How the Ethereals could stomach the soft-footed barbarians he could not comprehend. Wherever the Coalition travelled, there they were. Sometimes with weapons drawn or already firing, at other times simpering and begging the Tau for clemency and assistance. J'nunco steadied his breathing and calmed his mind. He had met dozens of aliens in his life in the busy hexadomes of his Septworld and, yes, even some humans from the Protectorate Zone. They were not _all_ bad.

"I'm picking something up, slow to half-speed."

"Decelerating." He eased off the paddle under his right foot and double checked that his guns were aimed squarely at the crater. He added some height to the skimmer so that he himself could peer just over the lip of the charred earth. the crater was wide, large enough to swallow a troop carrier. He could make out where the reentry heat had actually turned parts of the ground to fused glass.

"I think... I think I see something." Ib'rika said, her voice distant, focused as she directed the skimmer's markerlight. J'nunco watched on one of his forward screens that interpreted Ib'rika's own vision as the smoke layer was stripped away by the laser light.

Three things happened at once.

The Tau of the Third Sphere had, each, extensive training specific to the expansion sectors they would be assigned but they were also instructed by the Earth Caste to recognize the many weapons of the enemies that might stand against the inevitability of the Greater Good. As J'nunco watched the teardrop shaped craft revealed at the bottom of the crater, he instantly recognized this as one of the Gue'ron'sha elite assault craft, he heard Ib'rika begin to shout out an order, she must have realized this as well. It wouldn't matter, because just as both Pathfinders realized the threat they were riddled with perfectly aimed armor piercing rounds.

Dark purple blood splattered against the controls as J'nunco slumped onto the steering handles. The skimmer slowly turned, its engines still powering the gravitic cushion until a massive, five fingered hand gripped the vehicle so hard it contorted the hull material and arrested its momentum.

Two giants materialized from the tall grass, their silenced bolt carbines smoking. A third pushed the vehicle down into the dirt, overloading the engine thrusters in a massive _popping_ sound. The armored human smiled through layers of crisscrossing scar tissue built up to form a checkered pattern of pale lines through charcoal skin. It spoke, its bifurcated tongue bound together by gold rings flashing between black stained teeth; "Notify Task Force Command... The Scar Lords have made planetfall."

* **Sept:** A Sept is a collection of heavily settled star systems or planets who's cultural and societal norm is centered around a 'prime' colony which is a self governing entity from the rest of the Tau empire.

* **Run'al** : A forward operating based used by the Fire Caste. They often support multiple gravitic motivators allowing them to relocate.  
  
* **Rua'tor'la or Shas'tor'la** : Is the term for Teamleader; not necessarily of a higher rank and is considered transitionary. Aspiring young warriors are often chosen to this position which carries with it extra responsibilities.

* **Senshi** : Lit "Comrade" or "Friend"

**Author's Note:**

> Armored Interdiction Cadre – The T'au’s expertise in anti-gravitic technology means that their armoured vehicles are swift yet well-protected. An Armored Interdiction Cadre is a force composed of vehicles chosen to deal with enemy formations that do not specialize in anti-armour weaponry. Using their speed, an Armored Interdiction Cadre will maneuver to concentrate its firepower on its target, trusting in its armor to protect it against return fire. The vehicles of the Cadre are networked together with an interactive tactical control system, allowing the Shas'el or Shas'o commander that supervises the Cadre to direct fire quickly and efficiently through a Marker Light system built into the command tank. An Armored Interdiction Cadre will usually be comprised of a number of Hammerhead and Sky Ray gunships.


End file.
